October 21, 2019, Accra, Ghana – Knight Piésold Ghana crowned students from Wesley Grammar Senior High School as the winners of its 2019 Dam Modelling Competition. Students from Saint Thomas Aquinas, Saint Margaret Mary, and La Presbyterian senior high schools placed second, third, and fourth place, respectively.

Now in its second year, Knight Piésold Ghana challenged students to design model dams in a competition themed “Dams: A Hands-on Experience.” The competition is a core part of the company’s Schools Initiative Program (SIP). The SIP aims to heighten interest of students, who are attending government-assisted senior high schools in Accra, to purse post-secondary education in engineering through practical math and science applications. Over the past seven years, the SIP has explored a series of debates, quizzes, and other design contests, inspiring a new generation of civil and geotechnical engineers.

Prior to the competition, students attended a one-day workshop to prepare for the competition. Students were given a briefing on how to design a model dam, including presentations on basic earth dam design principles, measurements and scaling, safety, and teamwork. Students were also given a set of tools and materials for practice and concept development.

On the day of the competition, four teams, consisting of 10 students from each school, built highly creative model dam concepts with features, such as spillways, riprap armor, and safety berms—exhibiting a fair understanding of the principles that were taught. The model water dams were judged for their hydraulic containment, with scores awarded for creativity, storage efficiency, technical understanding, and team performance and presentations.

“Every year, the designs get more creative and the thought process gets a little more complex,” said Regional Manager Jeffrey Coffin. “The students have done their research and I am impressed with what they have learned over a short period of time.”

Wesley Grammar Senior High School and other schools were given equipment and supplies in recognition for their participation in the competition. Knight Piésold Ghana looks forward to interacting with students at next year’s competition, inspiring them to pursue sciences and applied sciences as a career.